Masakazu Nakai

(14 February 1900 – 18 May 1952) was a Japanese aesthetician, film theorist, librarian, and social activist.

Career Born in Hiroshima Prefecture, Nakai studied philosophy at Kyoto University, particularly aesthetics under Yasukazu Fukuda. He started the dōjinshi Bi hihyō in 1930, which changed its name to Sekai bunka in 1935. He was appointed the first Vice Librarian (fukukanchō) of the National Diet Library in 1948.

Selected bibliography

Nakai Masakazu (2016). “La logique des comités.” Translated by Michael Lucken. European Journal of Japanese Philosophy 1: 289–357. Kaffen, Philip (2018). “Nakai Masakazu and the Cinematic Imperative.” Positions 26, no. 3: 483–515. Lucken, Michael (2016). Nakai Masakazu: naissance de la théorie critique au japon. Dijon: Les Presses du réel. Lucken, Michael (2018). “On the Origins of New Left and Counterculture Movements in Japan: Nakai Masakazu and Contemporary Thought.” Positions 26, no. 4: 593–618. Moore, Aaron (2009). “Para-existential Forces of Intervention: Nakai Masakazu’s Theory of Technology and Critique of Capitalism.” Positions 17, no. 1: 127–157.